


Not So Bad

by TheBretonBookDragon



Series: The Adventures of Almithara and Ondolemar [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Children, F/M, Family, Fluff, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26350315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBretonBookDragon/pseuds/TheBretonBookDragon
Summary: The twins aren't sure what to make of their new sibling. Fits within A Broken Promise Means War.
Relationships: Female Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Ondolemar
Series: The Adventures of Almithara and Ondolemar [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1842877
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Not So Bad

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little one-shot related to my other multi-chapter stories. As I finished posting A Broken Promise Means War, this piece came to me. This would fit in between chapter 9 and the epilogue. Enjoy!

The two boys look down into the bassinet next to their parents' bed. They were told that the baby would eventually move into their room with them, but as excited as they are to have a new sister, they're not really sure that they want her to move in with them. She smells funny. And they don't really see what's so great about her.

Theodemar pokes her chubby cheek. "She's squishy," he remarks, seemingly disappointed by that.

"And she's pink," Nelaeryn adds, giving his sleeping little sister a critical onceover.

The two boys stand close together, united in their mistrust of the new addition to their family. Allannia is what their parents called her. They heard the screams from their mother a few weeks ago, and their uncle Inigo had to keep them calm during it since their father was in with their mother. Nelaeryn and Theodemar didn't realize that getting the baby out of their mother would hurt that badly. That may have been contributing to their dislike of the little girl. Just a little bit.

But then their uncle Inigo told them that their mother screamed much louder and longer with them, and they didn't really like themselves for a few minutes either. How could their mother love them so much after what she went through to get them here? They can't fathom it at all. Their mother must be just as great as they think she is to not hold such a painful experience against them.

"Do you think she smells?" Theodemar asks.

"Yeah," Nelaeryn answers, looking at the sleeping baby. She just smells…unusual. Theodemar always smells like a river, and Nelaeryn always smells like sunshine. Their father seems to smell like a forest, and their mother…well, she smells like home. Like adventure and warm bread. And she always has a slight smell of flowers to her. It's the boys' favorite smell in the whole world. The baby has a smell they can't name, and they don't quite like it.

"Why do mother and father like her?" Theodemar questions, pouting in distaste. "She doesn't look as nice as us."

"I don't know," Nelaeryn answers, thinking along the same lines as his twin. He reaches his hand out to touch the baby's face. She's soft.

She awakens at their prodding, her golden eyes sliding open and blinking lazily. Her mouth stretches into an 'O' with a big yawn, and her hands clench into tiny fists. Allannia tries to find the source of her sleep disturbance, and her eyes meet her brothers'. They just stare at each other for a few seconds before her hand reaches out and grasps Nelaeryn's outstretched finger, where he paused it mid-poke. She just holds onto it.

The boy swallows past the lump in his throat, a sudden flare of emotion running through him. His little sister is holding his hand.

"Hold mine too!" Theodemar demands, presenting his hand to his sister and forgetting his earlier distrust for her in favor of not being outdone by his brother. Allannia gingerly reaches a tiny hand up and grasps his finger as well, her angelic face breaking into a grin and a small giggle escaping her throat.

After several moments, wherein the three children just stare at each other, Allannia falls back to sleep with her brothers' fingers firmly in her grasp. The boys look at her, look at each other, and then look back down at their sister. "Maybe she's not so bad," Nelaeryn whispers.

"Yeah. She's kinda pretty. She has mother's eyes," Theodemar remarks.

"Mother has nice eyes," Nelaeryn says.

Theodemar nods vigorously. "Yeah. And I think she has our hair."

"I think so too."

Almithara smiles from her place just outside the bedroom door. Ondolemar walks up to her and opens his mouth to speak, but Almithara raises one finger to her lips in a shushing gesture and then points into their room. Ondolemar peeks around the door frame and grins at the sight of the children.

The parents were a little worried when Allannia was born. They invited Nelaeryn and Theodemar to see the new baby after Almithara was presentable again (and all the blood had been cleared away—no need to bring back bad memories for them), and they seemed to dislike her quite a bit. Theodemar had actually asked if they could exchange her for a different baby. Now, it seems, they've warmed up to her.

Almithara grasps Ondolemar's hand and leads him into the room with the boys. "And just what are you two up to?" she asks, careful to keep her voice down around the sleeping baby. They have to take those blessed occurrences as they come.

Theodemar and Nelaeryn both jolt in surprise, but they manage to not startle their little sister. They look over at their parents with sheepish expressions. "We were just visiting the baby," Nelaeryn explains quietly.

"Oh? Have you finally decided you like her?" Almithara questions with an amused smile.

Theodemar scowls a bit. "I guess she isn't so bad," he allows grudgingly.

Ondolemar chuckles at their expense and then just watches them gaze at the baby. He can already tell that they are lost to her charms. She'll have them wrapped around her fingers in no time—just like her mother can. None of them stand a chance.

"Mother?" Nelaeryn asks, a tremble in his voice.

"Hmm?" she replies, letting her hand rest on his head and running her fingers through his soft hair.

"Why do you love us?"

She looks down at the little boy with confusion in her eyes. "Because you're my babies."

Theodemar looks up at her, tears shining in his green eyes. "But we hurt you. Uncle Inigo said so."

"You didn't hurt me," she responds, unsure of what they mean and what Inigo would have been talking about. That doesn't sound like something he would say at all.

Ondolemar, however, realizes what they must be talking about and what must be behind their odd behavior lately. "I believe that they are referring to the birth of their sister," he murmurs to his wife.

Understanding dawns on Almithara's face. "Oh, sweeties," she sighs, reaching over to place her other hand on Theodemar's head as well. "Just because it hurt me to have you doesn't mean I don't love you all. I knew that it would hurt to have you. Getting a baby from in here," she nods down toward her stomach, "to out here isn't easy, but it's worth it because I get to have all of you with me."

Nelaeryn lets out a rather loud sniffle, and his lower lips pouts a bit as the tears come to his eyes. Theodemar bites his lip and looks down at the ground, a similar sniffle coming from him. "You don't hate us for hurting you?"

"Of course not!" she promises. "And I don't hate Allannia either. You're all precious to me."

"Okay," Nelaeryn decides after a few moments of contemplating what she said. His mother has never acted like she didn't love him at any point, so he feels confident in his trust of her words. Theodemar just nods in agreement, not trusting himself to speak through the tears of relief flowing down his face. He brings up his free hand and wipes the tears from his cheeks.

"So, do you like your sister?" Almithara asks again.

"Yes," they both answer without hesitation.

Ondolemar and Almithara share a pleased look. It seems that they won't have to worry about their sons' dislike of their new sister any longer. "It's time for dinner," Ondolemar informs. "You boys should go downstairs."

"Can we stay for five more minutes?" Theodemar begs.

Comforted by the change of attitude in the boys, Ondolemar finds himself relenting. "All right. Five more minutes."

Nelaeryn and Theodemar turn their gazes back to their sister, secure in the knowledge that none of the three of them have hurt their mother irreparably and finally pleased that they have a new addition to their family. Allannia still has a tight hold on their fingers with no signs of it being relinquished, but they find that they don't mind.

Yeah, she isn't so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> There might be more of these shorts or there might not be. I'll just go where the ideas take me.


End file.
